Method of making shell and fin tube condenser



Oct. 27, 1964 J. N. HINDE METHOD OF MAKING SHELL AND FIN TUBE CONDENSER Original Filed June 29, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 .RR m H H H H H HMM |||||.1 v m ....H......\..W...mw w w jag-n46 fizuenidr NN m Oct. 27, 1964 J. N. HlNDE 3,153,843

METHOD OF MAKING SHELL AND FIN TUBE CONDENSER Original Filed June 29, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J32 van 2301 ZZ/2128.5 jifeds'm Hinds Oct. 27, 1964 J. N. HINDE 3,153,343

METHOD OF MAKING SHELL AND FIN TUBE CONDENSER Original Filed June 29, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 UP IN THE M10045 F +2 INCHES 114 ggf 11g 14 STRA/ 6H7 AID LEVEL F 25 20 fi lw United States Patent 3,153,43 h/ETHSD 6F MAKING SHELL AND FIN TUBE CGNDENSER James Nelson Hinde, Highland Park, Ill., assignor, by inesne assignments, to international Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of lvlaryland Original application June 29, 1959, Ser. No. 823,678, now Patent No. 3,042,379, dated July 3, 1962. Divided and this application Sept. 25, 1961, Ser. No. 146,673

3 Claims. (Ci. 29-1573) This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 823,678, filed June 29, 1959, and now patented as Patent No. 3,042,379, date July 3, 1962, said application Serial No. 823,678 constituting a cont nuationin-part of a parent application Serial No. 798,616, filed March 11, 1959.

This invention relates to condensers, and particularly to shell and tube condensers that are adapted for use in refrigerating systems for the condensing of refrigerant.

Condensers of the aforesaid kind have the tubes thereof disposed horizontally within an elongated shell so that the gaseous refrigerant introduced into the upper portion of the shell may flow downwardly over the tubes so as to be condensed on the surface of the tubes which are usually of the finned type, and the condensed refrigerant is withdrawn in liquid form from the lower portion of the shell.

in my aforesaid copending parent application, I have disclosed and claimed a condenser of the aforesaid type wherein the finned tubes of the condenser are arranged one above the other in laterally spaced stacks so that the gaseous refrigerant may move downwardly in passages that are defined between the adjacent stacks, and in accordance with the invention disclosed and claimed in said copending application, the fins of the tubes in each stack are in substantial contact one with the other so that elfectual drainage of the condensed refrigerant is attained. In the aforesaid copending parent application the structure also provides for holding the tubes against vibration by means of U-bolts that embrace each stack of tubes in one or more locations near the central portions of the tubes, and the U-bolts serve to assure a proper draining relation of the adjacent finned tubes in each stack.

The present invention is an improvement on the invention disclosed and claimed in my aforesaid copending application, and particularly, this invention is concerned with the arrangement and relation of the tubes of the condenser. in the use of condensers as disclosed in the aforesaid copending application, the performance has been highly satisfactory from an operational standpoint, but where condensers of this kind are mounted in outdoor locations so as to require draining of the cooling water from the condenser during the period of non-use in the winter, the usual draining operation does not in every instance drain the water from all of the tubes. As a result some damage to the tubes has been encountered due to freezing of the retained water.

In view of the foregoing it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an advantageous method of assembling condensers of the aforesaid characters in such a manner that the tubes thereof will drain properly.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, winch, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof, and what is now considered to be the best mode in which to apply these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention.

"ice

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken longitudinally through a liquid cooled condenser embodying the features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross sectional View of the condenser, the view being taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a plurality of tubes in association with each other and with a tube sheet;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view that is somewhat schematic in character and which illustrates the first step in the assembly of the tubes on and with respect to the tube sheets;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the tubes after they have been assembled with the tube sheets and have been deformed so as to be bowed upwardly; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 after the upward bowing forces on the tubes have been released and the tubes have assumed their final relationship and are ready for rolling or fixing in the tube sheets.

For purposes of disclosure the invention is herein illustrated and described as applied a shell and tube type condenser 10 that comprises an elongated cylindrical shell 12 adapted to be mounted in a horizontal position and having tube sheets 14 at opposite ends thereof, end heads 15 and 18 being secured by studs 19 to the respective tube sheets 14 for directing the flow of cooling media such as Water through a plurality of finned tubes 2% that extend lengthwise through the shell and are mounted at their opposite ends in the tube sheets 14. The end heads 16 and 18, as herein shown, are so formed as to attain a two-pass operation of condenser, but this is merely illustrative. In the form shown, the head 16 has a liquid inlet 16A and a liquid outlet 16B, and the head 15 being divided between the inlet and outlet by a cross wall 161). The head 18 of course is formed without internal divisions and this arrangement thus provides for two-pass operation. The condenser 10 has a gas inlet 22 at the top of the shell 12 and a bottom outlet 24 is provided in the shell for the discharge of condensate.

The arrangement of the tubes 20 in laterally spaced stacks S so as to achieve an unusually efficient condensing operation that is described in complete detail in my aforesaid copending application, and the disclosure of such copending parent application, is incorporated by reference herein. It may be pointed out, however, that the ends of the tubes 2% are formed without fins as at 295, as shown particularly in FIG. 3 of the drawings, and these ends ZiiE are extended through internally serrated openings 143 that are formed in the tube sheets 14. After the tubes 2d are in place, as will be described in some detail hereinafter, the tubes are internally rolled within the openings 143 so as to interlock the tubes with the grooves of the opening 1413.

It has been pointed out that the tubes 20 are arranged in stacks S that are spaced laterally from each other and as described in detail in my aforesaid copending application, the tubes 20 have the fins F thereof in substantial engagement with the fins F of the next adjacent tubes in the stack S.

In practice, in the initial assembly of the tubes 20 in the tube sheets 14, the fins F of vertically adjacent tubes 20 in the stack are spaced slightly from each other, and this spacing facilitates the insertion of the ends of the tubes into the openings 14B of the tube sheets. The spacing of the fins is obtained by arranging the openings 1413 that are to receive the tubes of a particular stack with a vertical spacing that slightly exceeds the outer diameter of the fins F of the tubes.

As disclosed in my aforesaid copending parent application, the tubes 20 in each stack S are clamped together in the central portions thereof by means of one or more U- bolts 25 sothat the tubes in each stack provide a relatively rigid assembly in which the individual tubes are not subject to vibration. Each U-bolt 25 extends over the tops of the stack S and downwardly beyond the lowermost tube 20 in the stack, and cross bars 26 placed on the arms of the U-bolt engage the lowermost tube and are clamped tightly by nuts 25N that are threaded onto the lower ends of the arms of the -'U-bolts 25..

The present invention is concerned with the attainment of adequate drainage of the inside of all of the tubes 2% of the condenser when the condenser is drained. during the period of non-use in the winter. The arrangement is such under the present invention that such drainage is achieved by making the upper one of the tubes 20 in each stack assume either a straight horizontal form or slightly upwardly bowed form, and each of the succeeding tubes downwardly in the lowermost tube in the stack assuming a substantial upward bow, as will be evident in FIG. 1 of the drawings. Each succeeding tube above the lower tube in a stack has a somewhat smaller curve or bow therein, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, and the tubes of the stacks are clamped in this relation by the U-bolts 25.

Under the present invention the above described arrangement and relative configuration of the tubes 20 of each stack S is attained in a simple manner, while at the same time retaining the fully clamped relationship of the tubes 20 of the stack, whereby the proper drainage of the condensate from the fins F is assured, proper drainage of cooling water from the inside of all of the tubes is attained, and the tubes of each stack are held as a substantially rigid assembly in which the individual tubes cannot vibrate and produce noise.

The structural assembly that has thus been described, and which is shown in FIG. 1, is produced through the series of assembly steps that are disclosed in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. Thus, in FIG. 4 of the drawings, the tube sheets 14 are illustrated as being held in parallel and spaced relation and in the relative positions that they are to assume in the finished condenser, and these tube sheets of course have the several openings 14B formed therein to receive the ends of the tubes 20. This location of the tube sheets 14 may be accomplished by suitable fiixtures of conventional form and design.

The tubes 20 are put in position for each of the stacks S 'of the tubes in succession, and FIGS. 4 to 6 illustrate the five-tube stack that is shown at the right hand side of FIG. 2 of the drawings. One end of each tube 20 for the stack is inserted through from the inner side of a tube sheet 14 an opening in such tube sheets 14 and is then moved in the opposite direction to insert the other end of the tube into the corresponding opening of the other tube sheet 14, and when this is done the tube 20 is supported in the two openings 14B, but is relatively slidable therein.

All of the tubes 20 that are to form one of the stacks S are inserted as above described so that all of the tubes 20 of the stack may be forced to a bent or upwardly bowed relationship such as that shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings, and in this operation the tubes must be free to move longitudinally in at least one of the tube sheets 14.

With this in mind, the left end of each tube is then secured V in position in the left hand tube sheet 14, as indicated in FIG. 4, while the other or right hand ends of the tubes remain in their slidable relation in the bores 14B of the right hand tube sheet 14. Then, While the tube sheets 14 are held in suitable fixtures as indicated by the arrows 114 in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the tubes 20 are bent to substantially the form shown in FIG. 5. The tubes 20 of the stack S may be laterally guided or confined by a suitable fixture engaging opposite sides of the tubes of the stack, and the upward pressure is applied, as by hydraulic means, midway between the ends of the tubes so as to force the bottom tube 20 upwardly.

The upward pressure is applied substantially at the a point indicated by the arrow 120 in FIG. 5, and the several tubes '20 o flzhe stack are bent or deformed upwardly to such an extent that the midpoint of the upper tube 20 of the stack is somewhat above the plane of the ends of the stack, a one inch over-bend being indicated as an example in FIG. 5. In other words, all of the tubes of the stack are overbent or over-stressed beyond the relationship which they are to assume in the finished condenser. As the bending takes place, of course, the free or right hand end portions of the tubes may slide, as required, within the openings 14B of the right hand tube sheet. After the stack S of tubes have been bent upwardly to substantially the relationship shown in FIG. 5, the clamping means, which as shown constitute a single U- bolt 25, is put in position as indicated in FIG. 5, and after putting the cross bar 26 in position, the nuts 25N thereof are clamped so that the mid-portions of the tubes 20 have the fins F thereof in physical engagement with each other and the tubes 20 of the stack are effectually united as a substantially rigid unit, particularly at the mid-portions thereof.

After the U-bolt 25 has been tightened with the parts in the relationship shown in FIG. 5, the lifting force that has been applied at 129 as illustrated in FIG. 5, is released. When this is done, the stack of tubes 29 tends to return from the overbent or overstressed relationship shown in FIG. 5, and it may be noted that the overbending is carried to the extent required to cause the stack of tubes to return to a relationship where the uppermost tube 20 of the stack is substantially straight or is bowed slightly in an upward direction. During the foregoing operation, the tube sheets 14 are maintained in their fixed original relationship, and as the stack of tubes 20 returns from its overbent relation, the free or right hand end portions of the tubes may move as required in an endwise relationship in the openings 14B of the tube sheets.

The tubes 20 are then ready for anchoring of the other 'or right hand ends in the tube sheets, and this is accom' plished in the usual manner as by internal rolling of the end portions of the tubes 29 within the openings 143, thus to provide external annular beads that engage with the internal serrations of the openings 1413. The projecting ends of the tubes may then be trimmed.

The assembly of the other stacks of tubes 20 is then carried out in succession in a similar manner until all of the tubes 20 have been put into position between the tube sheets 14. The assembly then constitutes a rigid assembly wherein the tube sheets 14 are rigidly interconnected by the several stacks of tubes 20, and the assembly is thus in condition for application of the shell 12 and the related parts to produce the complete condenser.

It may be noted that while both ends of the tubes 20 might be left free for endwise movement in the tube sheets during the bending and clamping operations, the procedure is simplified by first securing one end of each tube in position as above described. Thus by this procedure, the originally secured ends of the tubes do not require trimming; overpulling of the tubes in one of the tube sheets is avoided, and the tubes are held against twisting or turning during the application and release of the bending forces.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention provides an improved water cooled condenser wherein the finned tubes are so arranged that there is not only a great increase in the efiiciency of the condensing action, but also the tubes are clamped together in such departing from the spirit and scope of the appending claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a shell and fin tube condenser which includes the steps of forming tube sheets for opposite ends of the condenser with corresponding tube mounting openings therein arranged in vertical rows and at a vertical spacing just slightly greater than the outer dimension of the fins of the tubes that are to be used, inserting the opposite ends of individually finned tubes in aligned rows of openings in the respective tube sheets to form a stack of tubes with at least one end of each tube slidable endwise in its supportin opening, holding the tube sheets in fixed parallel relation and laterally guiding the intermediate portions of the tubes in such stack while imparting upward bending and bowing forces to the lowermost tube of the stack adjacent the midpoint of the stack to engage opposed portions of the tubes and their fins adjacent the midpoints of the tubes and continuing the upward bending or bowing of the tubes of the stack until the uppermost tube in the stack has been bowed slightly in an upward direction, applying clamping means in a permanent relation to the bowed stack to secure the engaged portions of the bowed tubes and the fins in firm physical contact, releasing the upward bowing forces to allow tl e clamped stack of tubes to return to a final relation wherein the uppermost tube of the stack is in substantially straight form and the lower tubes of the stack are retained in their upwardly bowed form, fining the slid-able end portions of the tubes of such stack in their final relation to the supporting tube sheet, and mounting and arranging the other stacks of tubes in assembled relation to the tube sheets in the same manner to produce a relatively rigid assembly consisting of tube sheets and a plurality of stacks of rigidly interconnected individually finned tu es.

2. The method of making a shell and fin tube condenser which includes the steps of forming matching tube sheets for opposite ends of the condenser with corresponding tube mounting openings therein arranged in a plurality of vertical rows, supporting the tube sheets in fixed parallel relation, inserting the opposite ends of individually finned tubes into the aligned mounting openings or" one row to provide a stack of tubes extended between and through the tube sheets with at least one end of each tube slidable endwise in its supporting opening, imparting upward bend ing and bowing forces to the lowermost tube of the stack adjacent the midpoint of the stack to engage opposed portions of the tubes and their fins at least near the midpoints of the tubes and continuing the upward bending or bowing of the tubes of the stack until the uppermost tube in the stack has been bowed in an upward direction, applying at least one clamping member permanently to the bowed stack to secure the engaged portions of the bowed tubes and the fins thereof in firm physical contact, releasing the upward bowing forces to allow the clamped stack of tubes to return to a final relation wherein the uppermost tube of the stack is relatively close to a straight form and the other tubes of the stack are retained in upwardly bowed form, and then fixing the slidable end portions of the tubes of such stack in their final relation to the tube sheet in which such slidable portions are supported.

3. The method of making a shell and fin tube condenser which includes the steps of forming matching tube sheets for opposite ends of the condenser with corresponding tube mounting openin s therein arranged in a plurality of vertical rows and at a vertical spacing just slightly greater than the outer dimension of the fins of the tubes that are to be used, supporting the tube sheets in fixed parallel relation, inserting the opposite ends of individually finned tubes into the aligned niountin openings of one row to provide a stack of tubes extended between the tube sheets with at least one end of each tube slidable endwise in its supporting opening, laterally guiding the intermediate portions of the tubes in such stack while imparting upward bending and bowing forces to the lowermost tube of the stack adjacent the midpoint of the stack to engage opposed portions of the tubes and fins near the midpoints of the tubes, and continuing the upward bending or how g of the tubes of the stack until the uppermost tube in the stack has been bowed slightly in an upward direction, applying at least one clamping member permanently to the bowed stack in spaced relation to the ends thereof to secure the engaged portions of the bowed tubes and the fins thereof in firm physical contact, releasing the upward bowforces to allow the clamped stack of tubes to return to a normal position wherein the uppermost tube of the stack is relatively close to a straight form and the lower tubes of the stack are retained in upwardly bowed form, fining the slidable end portions of the tubes of such stack in their final relation to the supporting tube sheet, and mounting and arranging the other stacks of tubes in assembled relation to the tube sheets in the same manner to produce a final and relatively rigid assembly consisting of the tube sheets and the stacks of interconnected individually finned tubes.

Ehrhart Ian. 13, 1931 Price Apr. 3, 1934 

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING A SHELL AND FIN TUBE CONDENSER WHICH INCLUDES THE STEPS OF FORMING TUBE SHEETS FOR OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE CONDENSER WITH CORRESPONDING TUBE MOUNTING OPENINGS THERIN ARRANGED IN VERTICAL ROWS AND AT A VERTICAL SPACING JUST SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE OUTER DIMENSION OF THE FINS OF THE TUBES THAT ARE TO BE USED, INSERTING THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF INDIVIDUALLY FINNED TUBES IN ALIGNED ROWS OF OPENINGS IN THE RESPECTIVE TUBE SHEETS TO FORM A STACK OF TUBES WITH AT LEAST ONE END OF EACH TUBE SLIDABLE ENDWISE IN ITS SUPPORTING OPENING, HOLDING THE TUBE SHEETS IN FIXED PARALLEL RELATION AND LATERALLY GUIDING THE INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS OF THE TUBES IN SUCH STACK WHILE IMPARTING UPWARD BENDING AND BOWING FORCES TO THE LOWERMOST TUBE OF THE STACK ADJACENT THE MIDPOINT OF THE STACK TO ENGAGE OPPOSED PORTIONS OF THE TUBES AND THEIR FINS ADJACENT THE MIDPOINTS OF THE TUBES OF THE STACK UNTIL THE WARD BENDING OR BOWING OF THE TUBES OF THE STACK UNTIL THE UPPERMOST TUBE IN THE STACK HAS BEEN BOWED SLIGHTLY IN AN UPWARD DIRECTION, APPLYING CLAMPING MEANS IN A PERMANENT RELATION TO THE BOWED STACK TO SECURE THE ENGAGED PORTIONS OF THE BOWED TUBES AND THE FINS IN FIRM PHYSICAL CONTACT, RELEASING THE UPWARD BOWING FORCES TO ALLOW THE CLAMPED STACK OF TUBES TO RETURN TO A FINAL RELATION WHEREIN THE UPPERMOST TUBE OF THE STACK IS AN SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT FORM AND THE LOWER TUBES OF THE STACK ARE RETAINED IN THEIR UPWARDLY BOWED, FORM, FIXING THE SLIDABLE END PORTIONS OF THE TUBES OF STACK IN THEIR FINAL RELATION TO THE SUPPORTING TUBE SHEET, AND MOUNTING AND ARRANGING THE OTHER STACKS OF TUBES IN ASSEMBLED RELATION TO THE TUBE SHEETS IN THE SAME MANNER TO PRODUCE RELATIVELY RIGID ASSEMBLY CONSISTING OF TUBE SHEETS AND A PLURALITY OF STACKS OF RIGIDLY INTERCONNECTED INDIVIDUALLY FINNED TUBES. 